Mahiti Trust promotes the formation of community-based institutions and supports their functioning in a variety of ways. A large number of these (more than 546 ) are women’s savings and credit groups whose purpose is to pool financial resources through small monthly contributions and serve as a support group for members. This encourages savings and gives members access to sums of money that would enable a diversifying of livelihood options. We organize families into SHGs, to discuss, monitor and evaluate their functioning, and to help them liaise with banks and government departments. We believe that it is important for the SHGs to be self-sustaining.
One specific concern is for interest rates to be lowered so that people feel encouraged to take loans. Over the years there has indeed been a downward revision in rates though there is much regional variation in this regard (10–15 % per annum – simple interest). There is also regional variation in the purposes for which loans have been taken. They range from traditional and non-traditional income generators (agriculture, animal husbandry, sari trading, diamond polishing, flour mills, brick kilns, tiny shops etc) to miscellaneous personal expenditure (in health and education, for instance). The latter is more prevalent in the poorer SHGs, a significant number of which fall in the both the districts - Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar.
To encourage women to become more financially independent, Mahiti Trust has promoted the two women’s cooperatives - “Bhal Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited in Ahmedabad district” and “Bhal Women’s Jagruti Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited in Bhavnagar district” - a federation of exclusively women’s self help groups for easy access of communities to avail credit and avoid cumbersome banking procedures, Mahiti Trust worked out an alternative banking system, a structure that gives ownership and share in the profit to the women. Both the cooperatives function in the two administrative clusters of Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar respectively. Attempts are made to amalgamate all women’s savings and credit groups. Both the cooperatives are registered under Cooperative Act in 2001 and 2003 respectively and both are in the phase of extending its outreach and financial viability so that they can emerge out as Regional Level Self Sufficient Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) – as a small Women’s Bank. The leaders of the cooperatives are being trained on various aspects of cooperative management including accounts, laws, regulation, administration, roles and responsibilities and leadership development etc. Presently, there are more than 11700 women members in both the cooperatives having its annual turn over of more than 2.10 crores.
Agriculture Inputs : purchasing of seeds, cattle and purchasing of agricultural equipment etc.
Livelihood Activities / Income Generation Activities such as Provision Store, Brick Kiln, Saree Trading, Vegetable Carts, Tailoring Machine, Diamond Polishing Unit, Flour Mill, Tiny Shops etc
HealthProblem and Promotion of Education specially girl child education
Housing / Repairing of House
Sanitation (Construction of Toilet) Unit
Since last 7 years, both women federations (women cooperatives) and Mahiti Trust is authorized agent of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Mahiti Trust and both the cooperatives, jointly promoting social security schemes of both the companies such as “Janshri Bima Yojna” and “Bima Kavach” scheme to increasing the social security of poor and marginalized women.
Women in rural areas face atrocities and suffer a lot more because of their ignorance about legal provisions. For this, Mahiti Trust has been tirelessly working for the last five years and a Bhal Social Justice Activists Group (BSAG) in Bhal region has been formed to work for social justice campaign, human rights, awareness generation among people regarding various forms of exploitation. About 50 young men and women belonging to the exploited class of the region has joined the group. These young people are working for the process of social justice and directing people to proper direction. A Legal Aid and Family Counseling Centre has been set up at our Centre (Dholera) and provides legal aid and counseling. The legal consultants come regularly on 25th of every month. Many people come to the meeting with various issues like domestic violence against women, human rights violation, marital discord, bride burning, torture, illegal possession of land, land ownership issues like cases of inheritance, non registration of legally owned land, non issuing of ownership right in spite of cultivating the land for many years etc. The activists group members guide and help to solve the problems by counseling or if needed by legal actions with assistance from two advocates who guide the complainant to take legal action.
Both the federations (women cooperatives) conduct training for SHG members in the following areas:
Bhal Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited organizes visits of group leaders, organizers or facilitators of the agencies / organizations interested in SHG promotion, to provide an orientation to the functioning of the group. The interact with the group leaders and members and observe the group meeting, the accounting procedures, the rules followed by the groups, the decision making, also various social activities for which the group has mobilized its human / or financial resources.
With the experience of more than a decade, some of the group leaders of old SHGs are excellent resource persons who can give an account of the actual problems that the group may face in its various stages of development. Some of them are literate, others illiterate, but have tremendous skills in conceptualizing, generalizing and articulating. The visit the organization specially to interact with group leaders and animators to overcome any problems encountered in the field in group promotion or strengthening. The cooperative leaders can also provide inputs regarding cooperative functioning, cooperative management, laws and its process.
Sorghum, cotton and wheat are the main crops growing in Bhal region. Every year both the cooperatives buy good quality seeds from wholesale traders and distribute those seeds to their members so that they can get seeds of good quality and grow good quality crop, the cooperative purchases edible oil in bulk and sell that to their members at reasonable rate. The purpose of this intervention is to help the members be independent of local traders and agents who once giving the seeds in advance and charge the high prices by including their profit in it. The cooperative charges half of the cost of the seeds in cash at delivery time and remaining half in six months installments.
